High winds, makeshift roads and countless downed trees left by Hurricane Helene have made fighting the trio of wildfires in Polk County a “nightmare,” county officials said.
Two of the fires – Black Cove and Fish Hook – started because of downed power lines after strong winds last week. The cause of the Deep Woods fire is still under investigation, according to the North Carolina Forest Service.
As of Monday morning, the Black Cove Fire has burned 2,076 acres and is at 0% containment. The Deep Woods fire has burned 2,545 acres and is at 0% containment. And the Fish Hook fire has burned 199 acres and is at 50% containment.
The fires have destroyed at least four houses, according to county officials.
Evacuation orders are in place for the following areas:
- Green River Cove Road addresses from 1091 to 1528
- Lady Slipper Trail
- Big Hungry Road
- Spurgeon Cove Lane
- English Heifer Cove Road
- Deer Trail
- Scarlets Mountain Road
- 5079-7265 Holbert Cove Road
- Fox Paw Lane
On Sunday, the state Forest Service held an information session for residents. About 200 people packed the county commission chambers in Columbus to hear updates.
“ These conditions that we're facing right now is not like we've seen in the past,” said Polk County Fire Marshal and Emergency Manager Bobby Arledge.
“All the trees and everything that we've had down from Helene has been a nightmare. What you can normally get in there and stop pretty quickly has now become impossible, just because of the large trees and everything that fell during Helene.”
Adding to the mix of elements making the fire harder to fight are the temporary gravel roads up steep slopes that were built after Hurricane Helene destroyed infrastructure along the Green River.
“These fires are in very remote areas, with rugged terrain,” North Carolina Forest Service Public Information Officer E.J. Dwigans said. “Access has been an issue with small gravel roads – usually one way in, one way out – so it's really hard to get resources into where these fires are.”
Some officials were cautiously optimistic that rainfall on Sunday night would help slow the fires, but the amount of precipitation wasn’t nearly enough to make a difference. Instead, Dwigans said, the rain created another set of obstacles for crews.
“ The limited amount of precipitation that we've received has now made some of these roads slippery and wet,” Dwigans told BPR Monday morning. “Some of our fire lines have become kind of muddy and slick.”
The two biggest fires – Deep Woods and Black Cove – are burning in sparsely populated areas on both sides of the Green River. Firefighters are counting on the river and adjacent Green River Cove Road to serve as a natural fire break between the two.
“ A road or natural break like that is going to help us, Dwigans said. “The two fires are growing closer together, and so they may converge this week, but that's yet to be determined.”
Dwigans said crews have been working around the clock to try and contain the fire. And states throughout the south and as far west as Oregon have sent personnel and resources to help.
State government response
The Federal Emergency Management Agency approved North Carolina for a Fire Management Assistance Grant, Gov. Josh Stein said in a statement Sunday.
"I’m concerned about the wildfires in Polk County, where people are already struggling due to Mother Nature. I thank FEMA for approving North Carolina’s Fire Management Assistance Grant. Stay safe and please continue to listen to emergency guidance around evacuation orders. Visit readync.gov for more info."
The grants apply to fires that threaten to bring enough destruction to be considered a "major disaster" and must meet or exceed a set cost threshold – $2.9 million for North Carolina.
Justin Graney, Chief of External Affairs for the state's Emergency Management office said the “State Emergency Response Team, which remains engaged for Helene Recovery, has been engaged in Polk County since these fires began.
The North Carolina Forest Service has personnel and an incident management team on scene. The North Carolina Office of State Fire Marshal has personnel on scene and has assisted with coordinating the deployment of firefighting resources from other counties, and North Carolina Emergency Management (NCEM) has assisted with deploying personnel, issuing evacuation orders on behalf of the county utilizing the Wireless Emergency Alert network, and deploying communications equipment to Polk County.
Additionally, NCEM has activated the North Carolina Helo-Aquatic Rescue Team (NCHART) which is comprised of NCEM and aviation assets from the NC National Guard and NC State Highway Patrol to rapidly extract any firefighters who become trapped or injured while fighting these wildfires.”
South Carolina fires
Fire crews are also monitoring two fires near the state line in Pickens, S.C.
That fire – dubbed the Table Rock fire – has burned over 1,000 acres, according to Pickens County.
Just over the state line in North Carolina, Connestee Fire Chief Matthew C. Owen said on Monday :
“Last night we were able to confirm that the Table Rock Fire is not progressing in a manner that causes us a great deal of concern at this time,” he wrote on Facebook Monday morning.
Dwigans said the Forest Service is preparing for the possibility that the fires cross the state line by sending crews to Headwaters State Forest in Transylvania County to dig fire break lines.
If the fires do cross state lines, Dwigans said, “the North Carolina Forest Service will be responsible for managing the fire and it'll probably be a joint command situation.”
